Tower-Summer 2019

SUMMER 2019 | TOWER 13 INVESTING IN THEIR FUTURE It goes beyond books, class time and assignments. KU’s dynamic teams of College of Business faculty and staff are constantly working to create and connect our students to experiential opportunities that bolster their working knowledge, confidence and resume. A few of our favorites in the world of business: Imagine graduating as a finance major with the ability to say, “I helped manage a half million dollar portfolio for our university’s foundation.” That’s exactly what 10 faculty-selected finance majors can do upon completion of KU’s Applied Investment Management Program (AIM). As part of the carefully-mentored class, participants “present stock pitches to other students and convince them whether to add or subtract a stock from the portfolio,” said Dr. Jonathan Kramer , who founded the project in 2005 (it became a course in 2007). AIM participants then present their results to the investment board of KU Foundation, and in the spring, attend the Global Asset Management Education (G.A.M.E.) Forum in mid-town Manhattan to compete in a portfolio competition. “It’s real-world experience that has helped students when they graduate,” said Kramer. “When they go out to interview, many come back and say that once they brought up AIM, that’s all the interviewers wanted to talk about, that they managed real money,” he said. STUDENTS MANAGE PORTFOLIO FUNDS What impact did economic growth, regulatory relief and the Consumer Protection Act have on community banks? It’s a complex question four KU students had the honor to answer at a national Community Bank Case Study Competition. This year, 255 individual students on 58 teams from 44 colleges and universities participated. Our student team worked with New Tripoli Bank, a 110-year-old Pennsylvania icon to research, analyze, interact with bank professionals and prepare and present a report to the institution’s executives. It’s the third year students have opted into the competition to gain valuable firsthand knowledge of, and network within, the banking industry. WE BANK ON THIS COMPETITION KU students also competed in the CFA Institute Research Challenge, sponsored by the CFA Society Philadelphia. For the competition, students did a financial analysis and evaluation on the company Five Below “to try to determine if the market price was overvaluing or undervaluing the stock based on the intrinsic value,” said Dr. John S. Walker, CFA, professor of finance. KU students were among 16 teams in the competition. Even though they didn’t make the finals, they traveled to the finals in Philadelphia anyway. “They listened to other students stand up and defend their position on the stock, so they could compare their thinking and analysis to what they did,” Walker said. “That’s where a lot of learning happens.” CFA INSTITUTE RESEARCH CHALLENGE